An Architour of some of Tauranga’s older homes

 Recently, and in conjunction with Gerry Hodgson, a retired local architect, Tauranga Historical took a group of fifteen people on a most interesting trip around the northern end of Te Papa peninsula. We viewed houses from the roadside and learnt about the differing styles of home building in New Zealand from earliest European settlement to modern times.

The Elms Te Papa.  Image: Julie Green

Our first stop was of course the Georgian/Regency/Colonial example in Mission Street.  The Elms Te Papa was built predominantly by hand with local materials. Gerry pointed out its symmetrical design with a well-lit central foyer, matching twin dormer windows and the absence of a verandah —unusual for this style of house, so it may have been the personal preference of its first occupants, the Brown family. It was completed in 1847 by missionary carpenters, with doors and windows made on site, and hand- polished glass imported from Moravia for the many small window panes. The roof originally had kauri shakes but early in the 20th century they were covered with corrugated iron.

Gerry Hodgson on the front veranda at Brain Watkins House.  Image: Julie Green

Next we arrived at the front of Brain Watkins House at 233 Cameron Road — a Victorian Square Villa. This is still somewhat symmetrical in style with a central corridor and a wide verandah trimmed with ornate fretwork. Probably built to a standard plan from a sale catalogue, it was constructed by local shipwright and civic contractor Joseph Brain in 1881 for his wife and four daughters. The kauri used in its construction was transported here from Coromandel in one of his small scows.  The house was extended around 1900 as Joseph’s family had grown: a fifth girl was born in 1891. 

Edwardian house, Arundel Street.  Image: Julie Green

Gerry confessed to knowing little about the history of the next home we visited, in Arundel Street.  He called it an Edwardian house: the earlier fashion for symmetry having lessened in favour of a bay window on one side and a verandah extending around two sides or more. It was interesting, however, to note that the fretwork decorating the facade is almost identical to the 1880s Brain Watkins House, even though this one dates to 1910. It also features finials on the gable ends and little overlapping tiles above the bay window. 

“The Old White House” in Second Avenue. Image: Julie Green

Very close by in Second Avenue is the location of a Californian Bungalow or Ranch home, built in 1906 using large posts and beams. It has almost a Japanese flavour, and Gerry pointed out the presence of great ventilation features in the ceiling spaces included in the design. The present owners have chosen to replace the corrugated iron with textured malthoid tiles when reroofing.

The two aspects of 186 Devonport Road.  Images: Julie Green

A short walk around the corner and down a hedge-lined drive brought us to this 1932 English Revival stucco home off Devonport Road. The front and back facades are quite different.  The street side of the house features large Tudor-style beams. On the other side, facing the harbour and a large front lawn, a vestibular verandah is constructed within the main frame.

The street entrance, 186 Devonport Road.  Image: Julie Green

After a short break for a snack next to the WWII memorial at Memorial Park, we had to retreat to our vehicles due to heavy rain. Driving to the other end of the reserve, we parked next to the QEII sports pavilion and looked across to the rise where Fraser Street and Eleventh Avenue meet. There, in 1972, a Gerry Hodgson-designed-home, featuring a cantilevered verandah, was built with cedar and brick. It is presently owned by another architect who invited its designer over for a cup of tea not long after purchasing this truly NZ-style home.

Exterior and interior, 40 Fraser Street.  Images: Gerry Hodgson

Hopukiore

Ocean Beach and Hopukiore (Mt Drury) from Mauao, Mount Maunganui, c. early 1950s
Postcard, unidentified publisher, collection of Justine Neal

Hopukiore, at 40 metres high is much smaller than its famous counterpart, Mauao but it’s history is just as fascinating. From the late 1500’s the Ngati Tauaiti had a marae there, along with another marae on Moturiki. The name Hopukiore means to catch kiore (rats), the bones and the teeth of which were used for carving chisels and tattooing instruments. The area was used as a carving school and a wahi tapu (sacred site) for ta moko (traditional tattooing).

Ocean Beach, Mt. Maunganui, c. 1970s-1980s
Postcard published by Pictorial Publications Ltd, Hastings
Collection of Justine Neal

On the eastern side of Hopukiore there are at least five caves, some of which are known to have been used for burials. The 1820 battle fought between Ngapuhi and Ngaiterangi resulted in a large number of deaths for the Ngaiterangi. Te Waru’s (Ngaiterangi) chivalrous treatment of Te Morenga (Ngapuhi) after the battle led to peace between the two tribes and the Ngaiterangi dead were honoured with burial in the caves of Hopukiore.

East Cave, Hopukiore, 2025
Photograph by Justine Neal

The caves were also used by the men of the 80^th Regiment under Major Bunbury when they were sent from Auckland to deter hostilities between Arawa and Ngaiterangi, occupying the hill from December 1842 to March 1843. One cave was enlarged and shelves installed for munitions storage and a door was fitted. Another two caves were used for general storage and a bakehouse.

Hopukiore (Mt Drury) and Mauao, from Marine Parade, Mt Maunganui, c. 1950s
Collection of Tauranga Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo 99-028

In the 1980’s two young local boys were amusing themselves using old boxes to slide down the slopes of Hopukiore,  After a while, as they happened to have a small torch with them, their attention turned to the caves and they decided to do a little exploring. On entering the cave it felt cold and damp, the floor was hard packed dirt and there was enough headroom to walk. The cave narrowed, then came a shoulder height drop but they were still able to walk down to the next level. The cave narrowed again, it appeared to be solid rock in front of them but the torch showed that in one place the rock overlapped leaving a narrow gap to squeeze through. There was no way an adult could manage it but the boys thought they would be able to. At that moment they had a couple of choices and sensibly decided the way back was the safest one.

In 1853 Hopukiore was given the extra name of Mount Drury, named after Commander Byron Drury who arrived in Tauranga in 1852 on board the H.M.S Pandora to complete a coastal survey of the Bay of Plenty started in 1848.

Hopukiore (Mt Drury) from the quarry on Moturiki, Mount Maunganui, 1921
Postcard by unidentified publisher
Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0197/08

In 1913 a railway line that had been built to the railway workshops (situated between Salisbury Avenue and Rata Street) was continued up the main street, curving round the northern end of Hopukiore to service the quarry on Moturiki. A crushing plant had been built on the foreshore of Hopukiore to deal with the stone coming from the quarry.

The big swing at Mount Drury (Hopukiore) playground, Mt Maunganui, January 1967
120-format film negative, published in Bay of Plenty Times, 13 Jan 1967
Collection of Tauranga Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo gca-14286

Mrs. Gilchrist in the book ‘A History of Mount  Maunganui’ by Don Cunningham remembers the Public Works picnics:

“When they got the rail through a bit they would have open carriages with seats across and you’d come down to the Mount from Te Puke. The railway line went right along where the Main Road is now. We would all get off at the foot of Mount Drury on a platform and then take our picnic baskets into the big pine trees.”

Tunnel of the Mt Drury (Hopukiore) Railway Line, Mt Maunganui, December 1966
Crop of 120-format film negative, published in Bay of Plenty Times, 28 Dec 1966
Collection of Tauranga Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo gca-14079

From 1960 to 1975 there was a miniature railway as part of a children’s playground. There was a man-made tunnel that it went through at the base of Hopukiore and that’s where it lived. There were doors at each end that were kept locked when it wasn’t in use. It only used to run in the summer. Since 2008 there has been a playground on the western side of the reserve.

Mount Drury Tower (Hopukiore), Mt Maunganui, February 1963
120-format film negative, published in Bay of Plenty Times, 26 Feb 1963
Collection of Tauranga Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo gca-4488

In 1958 the Harbour Board Signal Station was erected on the summit of Hopukiore, the ideal place with its sweeping views out to sea. It served as a communication tool for navigation and relaying important information to the ships. It has been inoperative for many years now and at the present time only the signal station mast and a shed remain on the site.

Hopukiore (Mount Drury) with Soundshell, taken from Moturiki (Leisure Island), c. 1970s
Silver gelatin snapshot print by unidentified photographer
Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0040/25

In 1967 a Soundshell was built on the flat surface at the base of Hopukiore on the Moturiki side. The seating was provided by man-made terraces or by spreading a towel or a blanket on the grassy slopes. It proved very popular with locals and visitors alike, and was regularly used for concerts and events, such as the Miss Mount Maunganui contest on New Year’s Day. The Soundshell was demolished in 1999 and the area reverted back to grass.

Mount Maunganui 5,000 Club junior pageant at the Soundshell,January 1967
120-format film negative, published in Bay of Plenty Times, 4 Jan 1967
Collection of Tauranga Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo gca-14153

In 1978 the Council decided to extend the Grace Avenue frontage of Hopukiore by buying the small cottages that had been built there. These worker’s cottages were relics of the days when Moturiki had been quarried by the Railways Department and coincidentally several of them came on the market at this time and others were obviously reaching the end of their useful life.

Radio mast and shed, Hopukiore, 2025
Photograph by Justine Neal

The Council employed a land agent whose job was to enquire from the landowners if they were interested in selling. Unfortunately, he rather overstepped his job description by threatening them that if they did not sell the Council would take the land under the Public Works Act. Eventually the cottages were acquired by the Council and the land incorporated into the reserve. It just took a little bit longer and without the help of that particular land agent.

References

2019 Tauranga Reserves Management Plan
Tauranga City Library
Tauranga Heritage Collection
Explore Tauranga
The Weekend Sun, 22 February 2013
Sunlive, 10 May 2021
A History of Mount Maunganui, compiled by Bruce Cunningham & Ken Musgrave, 1989

The When and Why of Provincial Anniversaries

Provincial government boundaries came into effect on 17 January 1853. Over time the number of provinces increased to ten
Map courtesy of Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Two recent work-related mix-ups around Auckland Anniversary Day got me wondering about the when and why of provincial anniversaries. A quick search online revealed their relevance is increasingly debated and calls for consolidation, or even cancellation, are frequent. One of the most persistent arguments is that regions, like Waikato, should have their own celebration. Seemingly anniversaries being determined by a system of provincial government established in 1852 and abolished in 1875 is at best antiquated, and at worst, a vestige of colonialism. [i]

William Hobson, Oil portrait by James Ingram McDonald
Courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa

Six regions currently celebrate Auckland Anniversary - Waikato, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Northland, Gisborne, and parts of Manawatū-Whanganui. The day carries the additional historical significance of being New Zealand’s first public holiday. The commemoration date of 29 January marks the arrival of William Hobson in the Bay of Islands in 1840 and was gazetted in 1842:

Saturday, the 29th instant, being the SECOND ANNIVERSARY of the establishment of the Colony, His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to direct that day to be held as a GENERAL HOLIDAY on which occasion the Public Offices will be closed.[ii]

Hobson would later state that 30 January was the day the Union Jack was hoisted up the Herald’s flagpole at Kororāreka (Russell) and British Sovereignty over New Zealand was proclaimed. As a result, there was some fluidity around the date of the anniversary. At the end of the 1800s and the turn of the 1900s, the Bay of Plenty Times regularly printed advertising which used either date.

Advertisements for the annual Athletic Sports Day held at the Tauranga Domain on Auckland Anniversary Day. Printed in the Bay of Plenty Times in the weeks before each event, they show how the two dates were considered Anniversary Days. Courtesy of Papers Past

With ‘Mondayisation’ the date we observe the holiday is different each year. Indeed, in 2027 Auckland Anniversary won’t even be in January, the Monday falling on 1 February.[iii] Not that this will be the first time it’s been held in February. In 1901 the death of Queen Victoria necessitated the postponement of the celebration.[iv]

The campsite of the advance party sent to establish the newly founded city of Auckland, September 1840
Courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, Ref. E-216-f-115

Last year, in an additional twist to the date debate, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust called for the holiday to be moved to 18 September – the day Ngāti Whātua chief, Āpihai Te Kawau, gifted Hobson 3000 acres to establish the settlement of Auckland.[v] According to the trust this was the “true birth of the city”.[vi] While this seems a valid point for Auckland, those of us in the regions might be left wondering if it is indeed time to go our separate ways. However, it might be a case to be careful what we wish for as how can the Bay of Plenty – as diverse as it is – find a date of significance to all?

---

[i] Why NZ’s outdated regional anniversaries should be ditched | The Spinoff Auckland Anniversary 2024: Waikato community leaders supportive of own celebration - NZ Herald

[ii] The New Zealand Government Gazette, 26 January 1842, (Volume 2, 4th edition)

[iii] For those reading this blog in the future this year’s date is 27 January 2025.

[iv] Papers Past | Newspapers | Bay of Plenty Times | 30 January 1901 | TELEGRAPHIC.

[v] Yeah, Nah: Should the date for Auckland Anniversary Day be changed? | Stuff The case for celebrating Auckland’s anniversary on September 18 | The Spinoff

[vi] https://www.stuff.co.nz/te-ao-maori/350158615/newsable-auckland-anniversary-date-has-no-relevance-city#:~:text=The%20Ng%C4%81ti%20Wh%C4%81tua%20%C5%8Cr%C4%81kei%20Trust,does%20not%20relate%20to%20Auckland.

 

Bishop George Selwyn, Archdeacon Alfred Brown and the Flying Fish

Among the small missionary schooners like the Herald, Karere and Kukupa that sailed through Tauranga Harbour’s Maunganui entrance during the 1830s and 40s, was the 17 ton Flying Fish. Built at the Bay of Islands for use as an Anglican missionary vessel, it should not be confused with the Pacific Island’s trading schooner Flying Fish, 35 tons, which under Captain Webster, frequently arrived at, and departed Auckland during this decade).¹

Two men at work on Flying Fish at her berth at Orakei, Auckland, circa. 1844-1847

After Bishop Samuel Marsden’s death in 1838, the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand was led by the Rev. Henry Williams. A former Royal Navy Lieutenant, Williams who had built built the Flying Fish, wrote that the need for a Bishop was very great. George Augustus Selwyn was selected for the position in 1841, with responsibilities that included oversight of the Church of England’s work in New Zealand, as well as among the islands of Melanesia.² Selwyn’s first missionary vessel for use in New Zealand waters was the Flying Fish. A swift and most seaworthy vessel, from 1842 he often referred to it as ‘my yacht’, ‘my little schooner’, and greatly enjoyed taking a turn at the tiller.³ Later remodeled with a deck and cabin, the little schooner proved an ideal craft for visiting New Zealand’s North and South Island mission stations, accessible only by sea and often through challenging harbour entrances.

Bishop George Augustus Selwyn

Selwyn had a close relationship with Tauranga’s leading missionary Alfred Brown. In 1843 and 1844 Brown was encouraged in his arduous overland evangelising work when Selwyn trekked from Auckland to visit him at Matamata and Maungatautari, with an earlier visit to Brown at Te Papa in December 1842. He also showed his faith in Brown’s efforts by appointing him Archdeacon of Tauranga on 20th September 1844. Selwyn was to show his confidence in the new Archdeacon still further, as there is on record a letter written by Brown, on 29th February 1848, declining the appointment to a Bishopric which had been offered him by Selwyn.⁴  

On 9 March 1845, Selwyn recorded that the Flying Fish had made the quickest passage ever recorded for a vessel sailing between Wellington and Auckland. ⁵ Ably skippered by Captain Champion, the Flying Fish was also known as the ‘college schooner’, as it regularly transported missionaries and Maori ‘college boys’ to and from Thames, Tauranga and other Bay of Plenty mission stations to Selwyn’s St Johns College at Kohimarama, Auckland. During mid-1845, Brown was conveyed by the Flying Fish to Tauranga on an urgent visit to see his wife Charlotte and dying invalid son Marsh who had previously been cared for at St. John’s College.

Archdeacon Alfred Nesbitt Brown

Alfred Brown and William Williams, who arrived overland from the Turanga (Poverty Bay) mission station, sailed to Auckland on the Flying Fish for a meeting of Anglican archdeacons, held on 2 and 3 September 1847. Williams briefly recorded a swift overnight voyage to the College anchorage.

At once we set sail with a light wind & crossed the firth of the Thames. Passed the Island of Pakihi at daylight grounding for a short time on a sandspit. Beat up to Auckland with a strong westerly breeze and at four oclock we landed… ⁶

Captain Champion and the Flying Fish made additional voyages to Tauranga’s Te Papa mission station during the 1840s. On 26 September 1846, the schooner returned to St John’s College with flax, potatoes, maize and timber from Tauranga.⁷ In the same year, Selwyn sailed to Tauranga to conduct a confirmation service for some of Brown’s Māori converts at Te Papa^.8

Selwyn’s arduous, extended voyages to New Zealand’s scattered CMS coastal mission stations proved, at times, long and lonely experiences. At the Bay of Islands on 9 March 1845, he recorded:

 

I am sitting in my little cabin, in the schooner Flying Fish of seventeen tons burden; with no other companions than my sailing master, Champion, late boatswain of the Government brig Victoria, and my crew of three New Zealanders.⁹

Captain Champion at the tiller of the Flying Fish

Selwyn did not remain in his cabin for long. On 11 March the ‘rebel’ chiefs Hone Heke Pokai and Te Ruki Kawiti’s warriors attacked Kororareka (Russell) in the first battle of the Flagstaff War. Selwyn, Champion and their Māori crew took some of the terrified settler refugees aboard the Flying Fish, and joined the rescue fleet that transported them safely to Auckland. Initially offered a much larger vessel for his voyages that year, Selwyn, by now an accomplished sailor and commander, declined the offer. Replying by letter to his would-be benefactor he wrote:

In answer to your noble offer of a schooner similar to that given to the Bishop of Newfoundland, I must tell you, that any thing above twenty tons is considered large in our harbours, the greater number of our coasting vessels being about that size; and, if managed by steady men, they perform their voyages with great safety.¹⁰

Bishop George Selwyn continued to sail the sea-battered Flying Fish around his coastal diocese until 1848, when the schooner’s leaks began topping the cabin floor. The final straw it was reported, occurred when he stepped out of bed one morning ‘into a salt water bath’.¹¹  In July 1848, Selwyn took command of the larger 20-ton Undine, another Bay of Islands-built schooner. Whether this vessel also became a familiar sight on the waters of Tauranga Harbour during this era is currently under investigation.

References

¹ ‘Old Mission Ships’, New Zealand Herald, 27 July 1935: 15. 

² Selwyn, George Augustus, Te Ara, New Zealand biographies

https://teara.govt.nz › biographies › selwyn-george-aug...

³ Tucker, H. W; Memoir of the Life and Episcopate of George Augustus Selwyn. Bishop of New Zealand, William Wells Gardiner, London, 1879: 148.

Tucker, 1879: 148.

⁴ Waikato Independent, 11 May 1939: 3

⁵ Tucker, 1879: 187.

⁶ Porter, Francis, (ed.), The Turanga Journals 1840-1850” Letters and Journals of William and Jane Williams, Missionaries to Poverty Bay. Victoria University Press, 1Wellington, 1974: 442.

⁷ New Zealander, 26 September 1842: 2.

⁸ Williams, 1974: 370.

⁹ Tucker 1879: 187.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Williams, 1974: 464.

Illustrations

1 Hutton, Thomas Biddulph, 1824-1886. (56) The Flying Fish. Hutton, Thomas Biddulph (Rev), 1824-1886: [Three sketchbooks of New Zealand scenes and people. 1844-1847]. Ref: E-111-1-071. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

2 Mason & Co (Photographers). George Augustus Selwyn. Engraved by W. Hale, 1878-1879 from a photograph by Messrs Mason & Co. [London, 1889]. Curteis, George Herbert, 1824-1894: Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand and of Lichfield ... (London, Kegan Paul, 1889). Ref: PUBL-0148-front. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

3 Hemus & Hanna (Firm). Hemus & Hanna (Auckland) fl 1879-1882: Portrait of Archdeacon A N Brown. Ref: PA3-0103. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

4 Hutton, Thomas Biddulph, 1824-1886. (70) Champion at the tiller. Flying Fish. Hutton, Thomas Biddulph (Rev), 1824-1886: [Three sketchbooks of New Zealand scenes and people. 1844-1847]. Ref: E-111-1-085. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.